Tuscan Kale in Summery Pasta

by Regina Schrambling

on 08/06/12 at 03:00 PM

The last two Greenmarkets I've shopped have been disturbingly lettuce-free; one farmer told me he lost 1,000 heads of Romaine to the heat last week. But sturdier stuff is still available. I got this mega-bunch of Tuscan kale for $2.

I've been seeing more recipes for salads using it instead of Romaine. The best new notion is an actual kale Caesar salad, and those leaves would stand up to garlic and anchovies etc.

But the hacked-off leaves here went into pasta, reimagined. I started with the idea of orecchiette with broccoli rabe, one of the few pasta classics I actually love, especially when hot Italian sausage is involved. Chef Google suggested Williams-Sonoma's recipe that included bread crumbs toasted in olive oil, which was crunchy brilliance. I added a bunch of chopped spicy olives for good measure, then at the last minute saw Sun Gold tomatoes on the counter and halved those to toss in, with lots of Aleppo pepper. The whole combination was one of the best things I've concocted in donkey's years. Sometimes less is not more.

I know the whole kale trend is past its sell-by date, and I've made jokes about it, too, but there are many reasons the Tuscan kind hasn't joined faded fads like oat bran. Not least that it plays so well with others.